


Chocolate Daydreams

by Zell_Hatoule



Category: Astral Chain (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Hal is still a disaster but Akane loves him anyways, Jin Wong Can't Cook, M/M, Max loves him anyways, Player Character's name is Akane, Vague implications of sexytimes but none shown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:29:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22719943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zell_Hatoule/pseuds/Zell_Hatoule
Summary: Jin Wong was an established bad cook. So when he has to do something special for Max, he panics, and calls the the twins. Turns out, one of those twins is having an internal crisis of their own. Established M/M relationship and just barely starting Hazure.
Relationships: Hal/Player Character (Astral Chain), Maximilian Howard/Jin Wong
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Chocolate Daydreams

Oh god. Jin paces the apartment hallway like a muzzled wolf, chest heaving up and down. Valentines.

_ Holy shit. _ He knew Max wouldn’t mind if he went and got regular chocolate, but he  _ wanted _ to make him some.

Problem: Jin and cooking got along like the twins in a  _ get along  _ T-shirt.

Specifically? Not at all. His fingers immediately dial a well-worn number, his hand holding onto his phone like a lifeline.

Thank god, she picks up on the second ring. “Akane Howard!” Maybe it’s just him, but she sounds as stressed as he does… Nah. Probably was his imagination. “What’s up Jin?” She asks, bubbly bright and warm as the summer sky.

“I need to make Max chocolate for Valentines day, and I only know cooking by reputation,” he blurts out.

The line fills with silence. Then she snorts.  _ “Oh wow Jin, you’ve got it  _ **_bad_ ** _.” _ Akane’s giggling fills the line, and he ignores it in favor of putting his phone to his ear as he juggles the supplies he’d bought, enters his apartment.  _ “You did at least get chocolate, right? And some candy melts? Oooh, please tell me you got  _ **_strawberries_ ** _.” _ She asks him.

Setting his purchases on the table, Jin checks his supplies.

One container of white strawberries (that were on sale, surprise surprise) stares back up at him. He moves on.

Yep. Same goes for the candy melts. He’d gotten some candy coloring in blue, pink, and green (he distinctly remembered Max saying it was his favorite color, and he better remember it, given his  _ other _ surprise.)

He’d gotten some dark chocolate on the advice of the shopkeeper, along with a handful of candy sprinkles. All of which he dutifully relayed back to Akane. The girl hums over the line.

_ “I’ll bring a bag of cherries and some baking stuff, and between you, me, and Akira, we’ll get something passable!” _ she chirps at him, and Jin’s shoulders slump in relief.

“Thank you - I’ll buy you something nice,” he tells her, and she snorts at him.

_ “I’m in need of advice. That'll work as payment,” _ she says, and hangs up on him. Bemused, he blinks at his off phone, but allows her oddness to slide. He cleans the kitchen instead, waiting for Akane and Akira to arrive as he lays out the ingredients. After a moment of thought, he pulls out some mixing bowls and a pot. He remembered vaguely that he was supposed to temper chocolate… right?

By the time Akane arrived with Akira in tow, Jin was a nervous wreck, staring blankly at the tutorial for tempering chocolate.

“I brought some luster dust too,” she tells him when he opens the door, and if his smile seems a little strained, she doesn’t mention it. Akira is carrying some small paintbrushes and a few chocolate bars.

“What?” Akira says defensively at his pointed look. “You two might kill me if I eat the chocolate without your say-so, so I brought backup candy.” Jin thinks about it.

… Okay, yeah, he might have used his X-Baton on Akira if he dared touch any good samples.

In his defense, this was Jin’s first Valentine’s day that he  _ actually _ was spending with Max. He would not be held responsible for his actions. It takes a few minutes to figure out what they want to do - Jin is all for dipped strawberries, but Akane wants to start with the cherries first. They have a brief, heated debate broken by a bar of chocolate before going with the cherries.

As it turned out, tempering chocolate wasn’t nearly as difficult as he’d feared, and he was able to get it done without more than one reheat to retemper the chocolate. Scooping tiny balls of chocolate inside hollowed-out cherries was… relaxing.

“So,” Jin says, while he’s mixing up the vodka with some gold luster dust, “You said you needed advice?” he asks, and Akane, in the middle of stabbing her cherries with cute plastic sticks, misses and stabs her finger instead.

Jin decides to forgive her unseemly swearing after a moment.

Akane’s embarrassed expression is something he immediately wished he had photos of, the girl sticking her injured finger in her mouth. “I like Hal!” she mumbles around her injured digit, face burning bright red. “But I don’t know  _ anything _ about him! Sometimes he uses his hologram-thing to talk to me, but I don’t know if that’s what he looks like, or if he’s shy! I don’t know his favorite color, or what he likes to eat! What if he’s allergic to  _ chocolate! _ ” Akane wails the last bit, and Jin stops mixing to pat her on the head.

“He’s not allergic. Olive gives everyone chocolate on the first day of the month, and Hal’s always taken it with his drone,” Jin offers that first to reassure her, and she looks so relieved that it’s almost adorable.

Eh. It  _ was _ adorable. He smiles in amusement as she looks at him with her best wet-kitten look. “Really?” she says hopefully, and he ruffles her hair.

“I promise, he’s not allergic to chocolate. Or strawberries, or cherries. Now, help me paint these strawberries gold, and we can see about marbling the candy melts and getting those geode style strawberries painted.”

Akane’s smile is as light as the sun.

* * *

“Remember, I’m only distracting your old man for fifteen minutes, so you and Hal better beat feet asap, got it?” he warns wryly, and she beams at him, plants a kiss to his cheek fondly as she scurries up the stairs in time with Max exiting the elevator. A blue eye watches him, amused and fond as he does so, strides close to plant a kiss against Jin's mouth.

Jin melts into the kiss, burying his fingers into the short-cropped hair and holding him tighter. He pulls back when air becomes a requirement, Max smiling against his mouth and chuckling.

“Happy Valentines,” Jin breathes against his mouth. Max chuckles lovingly, kisses him against his mouth once more.

“I gave you Valentine’s day  _ off _ for a reason Jin,” Max says, pulls back. “I was looking forward to seeing you at home. ‘Licia said she was cool with letting the twins stay the night at hers so we could get some private time.” Jin rolls his eyes, heart beating faster at the feeling of Max calling the apartment he shared with his twins as their  _ home. _ Jin kisses Max again, rubbing a hand against the back of his head.

“You’re such a tease,” Jin murmurs against his lips. “Had you in my mind  _ all _ day.” He kisses Max once more, before leaning against his boyfriend. “... Missed you.” he admits shyly. Max smiles down at him, kisses the top of his head.

“I missed you too darling,” he teases, and Jin wrinkles his nose at the pet name. “What did you need? ‘Licia said it was important, so what’s up?” Max asks. Jin pulls out a box, offers it to him.

“I had to recruit Akane and Akira, but I wanted to make you something nice for our first Valentine’s together,” Jin flushes at the sappiness of it, but Max looks  _ delighted. _

“I had something for you too,” Max confesses softly, kisses his neck, and Jin melts into the tender touch. “It’s in my locker - let me go get it - if we’re going to be exchanging gifts and all.” Here Jin allows his grin to show a bit of the naughtiness in it.

“Well, this is only half of the present,” Jin tells him. “So hold onto your gift and you can give it to me when you get home.”

Max blinks at him curiously. “Now I’m going to hurry home,” Max says after a moment, before kissing his grin off of his face and accepting the chocolate. “I’ll see you then.” Dryly, Max adds, “Harold Clark, my daughter better be at Alicia’s by nine or you’re  _ both _ in trouble.” Jin ducks his head, silly grin on his face at the sound of a pair of startled mouse squeaks.

He said he’d  _ distract _ Max.

Never said it would work.

Jin grins to himself before turning back to pamper his boyfriend with more kisses before heading home. He had a proper Valentine’s surprise to set up.

* * *

“S-so?” Hal inquires nervously when Akane fiddles with her package. She was nice! And pretty. And showed him an awful lot of attention people kept saying meant she  _ liked _ him.

Hal, the useless Zero. But maybe not Zero, if someone as amazing as Akane could look at him and think he was  _ cool _ .

“Happy Valentines.” She says the words firmly, but there’s no mistaking the neon hue of blush on her face, or the obvious awkwardness she felt. “I really, really like you, and I wanted to ask you out.”

_ Harold “Hal” Clark is offline. Messages will be received when Harold “Hal” Clark is online… _

“I-I really like you too!” Hal manages not to sound like a complete idiot after his brief server reboot. Carefully, he opens the drone head top, pulls out a gift. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be seeing you, so I planned on asking your dad to bring it… I hope you like it?” He tries, and Akane gives him a starry-eyed look.

“Oh  _ Hal, _ you didn’t have to get me anything!” She squeals a little, and offers him his gift. He accepts it and tucks it into the drone-head, shuts it. Her hands open the box, and her eyes go wide.

“You really liked the holo-projector bracelet you saw in the latest Aberration Decimation trailer, so I made you a replica of it… it doesn’t have any gadgets, but -” He wasn’t able to finish before Akane slips the bracelet on, the girl’s eyes rounder than coins as the holo-display lights up.

“Hal, have I told you how amazing you are today?” she gushes, and Hal reddens from behind the screen. “Because seriously - you are underrated and a masterpiece,” Akane tells him. Hal turns even redder.

Gosh. Two compliments in one day. He was on a  _ roll. _ In a happy daze, Hal allowed Akane to take him wherever she darn well wanted.

Hal nearly blue-screens when Akane plants a kiss to the top of his drone-head, melting inside from the sheer  _ happiness _ she was radiating.

Life was  _ good. _


End file.
